Exhibitions Archive

Andrea Angione
Terribilis est locus iste

21 SEPTEMBER 2017 – 28 JANUARY 2018

The Italian photographic artist Andrea Angione’s exhibition Terribilis est locus iste features eight large scale works. The ordinary people of the streets are the real protagonists of these dramatic pieces, which show great technical virtuosity and refer in a bold manner to Caravaggio and other Old Masters of the 16th and 17th centuries.

Andrea Angione was born in Orbetello (Tuscany) in 1977. After he graduated he took his first steps as a director and made several short films. He studied dramaturgy, direction and photography at the Cinema School of Grosseto and at the Cinema National School in Florence. In 2006 he won the first prize at Capalbio Cinema contest in the junior category, as director of the short film Insieme (Together), which was a co-working project with the pupils of a primary-school class.

Working in the area of film and cinematography led to digital photography and he soon developed a remarkable personal technique, in which painting and photography fuse completely into each other. Angione´s use of light emphasizes the dramatic and symbolic content of his art works.

After his first exhibition as a photographer, Terribilis est locus iste (Porto Ercole, 2009), he received the opportunity to show his works at Palazzo Barberini in Rome (2009) and at Galleria Permanente in Milan (2009). The same year he won the important award Premio Arte Mondadori (1 Prize, photography category). Two further exhibitions – Nec spe nec metu(Porto Ercole, 2010) and Fortitudo Mea in Luce (Capalbio, 2011) – put him in the spotlight and were greatly appreciated by the audience as well as the critics.

I am not I – Famous and Forgotten Portraits

8.6.–31.12.2017

The exhibition I am not I approaches portraiture through a range of different themes and perspectives, while also providing an insight into the history and development of the genre. Themes explored include power and identity as well as memories and their preservation. The works on display cover the full range of portraiture, from imposing portrayal of royals and other powerful figures to intimate depictions of families, along with artists’ own self-portraits. In addition to well-known persons and notable figures of their day, the exhibition features not only portraits of people whose identities have faded into obscurity over the years, but also portraits that for some other reason have been consigned to oblivion.

The time period covered by the exhibition extends from the 16th century until present day. The works include some of the earliest known portraits, the Fayum funerary masks, which were painted on wood during the subject’s lifetime and later placed over the mummy’s face.

The exhibition includes several rare works that have not previously been displayed in public, including Lorens Pasch the Younger’s (1733–1805) portrait of King Gustav III of Sweden (1783). The Royal High Court of Vaasa was founded in 1776 and to mark the occasion, King Gustav III donated his portrait to the institution. It is currently displayed in the court’s main chamber, and normally accessible to only a few people.

The exhibition also features highlights that will remain on display for a limited period only. The first highlight is a series of works themed around former President of Finland, Urho Kekkonen, including a portrait by Ilya Glazunov from 1973, self-portraits created under the tutelage of Finnish artist Kimmo Pyykkö as well as a further self-portrait from 1975. The Urho Kekkonen highlights will be on display 8 June–3 September 2017.

The second highlight is a portrait of former President of Finland, Tarja Halonen, painted by Rafael Wardi. It will be on display as part of the exhibition 5 September–29 October 2017. The third highlight comprises portraits of a further two former Finnish presidents, Carl Gustaf Mannerheim and P. E. Svinhufvud painted by Eero Järnefelt. These can be viewed 31 October–31 December 2017.

The exhibition will be complemented by a catalogue exploring the works and themes from a range of new and fresh perspectives. The contributors are Finnish and international experts in their field.

Artworks have been received on loan from private and public collections as well as the Finnish National Gallery’s own collection. The exhibition is part of the official programme on the centenary of Finland’s independence.

100 years 100 images – Hannu Pakarinen

8.6.–3.9.2017

Photo artist Hannu Pakarinen travelled across Finland on the country’s centenary year, photographing people born between 1917 and 2017, one person for each year of independence. Together, the portraits and the subjects’ life stories paint a contemporaneous picture of Finland today. The years and the people recount the story of Finland as an independent nation, with all those involved presented as heroes.

“I have photographed and interviewed one hundred Finnish citizens born between 1917 and 2017, one person for each year of independence. My approach is informed by the road photography tradition. During this project, I have toured Finland with my camera, in a bid to capture the essence of Finnishness and in search of some of the major issues of our time. The people featured in these photographs have been chosen at random, although I have sought to make sure that, together, they are representative of society as a whole. What I have set out to do is create a contemporary snapshot of Finland that also incorporates our wider historical context. This is not purely about taking a subjective or contemporary art approach to history, it is also about exploring people’s dreams and memories, and their ideas about what constitutes ‘the good life’. The portraits and the autobiographical texts created by my subjects also invite the viewer to consider what life between the East and the West was like. I believe my work has genuine value as a social, documentary and scientific record of Finland and Finnishness in 2017.” Hannu Pakarinen.

The exhibition will be complemented by a photo book titled “minä/sinä/me” and 101 Finnish portraits –website.

The exhibition is part of the official programme on the centenary of Finland’s independence.

Caesar van Everdingen − Master Painter in the Age of Rembrandt

16.2.−14.5.2017

Caesar van Everdingen (1616/1617–1678) from the Dutch city of Alkmaar was, in his own time, a highly regarded virtuoso painter and grand master of Dutch classicism. However, he would later become overshadowed by his contemporary Rembrandt, along with many other 17th century Dutch painters. Caesar van Everdingen has now been rediscovered as an outstanding painter of his time, and his oeuvre, considered by experts to be one of the finest from the era, is undergoing a re-evaluation.

Caesar van Everdingen created handsome portraits of the bourgeoisie along with stunning historical scenes and sensuous representations of mythological scenes. He used his exceptional flair with the brush to conjure the softness of velvet, the sheen of fine furs and the gleam of expensive dress fabrics onto his canvases.

Caesar van Everdingen’s first ever monographic exhibition was launched in Alkmaar’s Stedelijk Museum in September 2016, four hundred years after the artist’s birth. The exhibition marked the culmination of many years of research and conservation, and represented a significant event for the Dutch art scene. The exhibition presents 28 paintings, half of the artist’s known output. Its pièce de résistance is a stunning, large-scale civic guard group portrait sized at 201 x 350 cm depicting bourgeois members of Alkmaar society.

The exhibition is organised in collaboration with the Stedelijk Museum in Alkmaar.

ICONS – HOLY, BEAUTIFUL AND SECULAR

16.4.2016 − 30.4.2017

In the atmospheric Red Cellar, Russian icons will be exhibited in both art historical and religious contexts. The themes include depicting Christ, Mother of God and saints in icon art as well as the significance of icons as part of the orthodox prayer life. Visitors can also learn about the techniques of icon painting and challenges in the dating of old icons. The icons belong to the collections of the Sinebrychoff Art Museum, the oldest of them dating back to the 16th century.

Still Life – The World on Display

29.9.2016–8.1.2017

What did ”the good life” mean in the 17th century Netherlands? What meanings did people attach to food, flowers and everyday objects?

The exhibition explores the concept of the good life from different points of view such as morality, abundance and transience. Many of the themes still remain valid to this day. The exhibition comprises some 50 still lifes from the Netherlands, Italy and Spain, dating back to the 16th–18th centuries. The exhibition also includes contemporary works of art that comment the current themes.

The still life as an art form gained an unprecedented popularity in the 17th century when the Protestant Netherlands’ wealthy bourgeoisie began to acquire art. This popularity was also reflected in the wealth of subjects depicted in the paintings. These ranged from everyday foodstuffs to rich and abundant depictions of game and luxury imported goods, such as lemons and seashells, that revelled in their masterful material qualities.

The Netherlands’ dominance of the world markets meant that the still lifes commonly featured exciting and never-before-seen items, which served to boost the social status of their owners. Advances in plant science gave rise to lush and beautiful flower arrangements, rich in symbolic meaning. New tulip varieties, in a range of vibrant colours, were subject to feverish trade activity – right up until the bubble burst. In response to rising levels of material wealth and well-being, a public discourse on morality and restraint became an important feature of Dutch culture. The skull, originally depicted for medical purposes, became a staple element in the vanitas paintings reminded of the transience of the life, earthly material abundance.

TIEPOLO
Venetian Fantasies
The Rolando and Siv Pieraccini Collection

2 June – 4 September 2016

The summer exhibition at Sinebrychoff Art Museum will focus on prints and drawings by the famous Venetian masters, the Tiepolos. Rolando and Siv Pieraccini’s unique Tiepolo Collection features works by Giovanni Battista (Giambattista) Tiepolo (1696−1770) as well as his sons Giovanni Domenico (Giandomenico) Tiepolo (1727−1804) and Lorenzo Baldissera Tiepolo (1736−1776).

Giambattista’s works were highly sought after by the royalty and nobility of the day. Together, the father and sons set up a highly prolific workshop, which received commissions from churches and palaces across Europe. The Tiepolos worked for the Spanish royal court between 1762 and 1770, until the death of Giambattista. Some of the works in this exhibition relate to the larger commissions in the Tiepolo oeuvre.

The Tiepolos were also highly skilled printmakers, with Giandomenico and Lorenzo studying the technique, along with drawing, at their father’s studio. This exhibition features some of the best-known prints ever created by the Tiepolos, including the full series of Giambattista Tiepolo’s Capricci (1741−1742) etchings, first shown in public during the artist’s life time. Ever present in these prints and sketches are the airy lightness of the Venetian masters’ compositional style and the soaring dynamism of their lines, as well as their playful approach to the fantastical and the freshness with which they interpret more traditional motifs.

Russian masters – from Aivazovsky to Repin

11 February – 8 May 2016

The exhibition will provide a cross-section of 19th century Russian art from romantic landscapes to realistic portraits. The works include elaborate seascapes, serene rural scenes, folk tale motifs and portraits. Works from about thirty artists from Finnish art collections will be on display as well as pieces from private collections shown in public for the first time.

The early 19th century was a restless time in Russia. Democracy and radical thinking were gaining ground. A wide social campaign arose for the abolition of serfdom. Artists also participated actively in the public debate. They started to take an interest in their own era and the Russian people. In the exhibition, artists representing that time are Sylvester Shchedrin, Ivan Aivazovsky, Alexey Bogolyubov and Karl Bryullov.

Ivan Aivazovsky (1817−1900) was a Russian Romantic landscape painter. He was fascinated by extreme weather conditions and the sea in all its manifestations. The Bay of Naples (1844) is a romantic seascape depicting a drowsy, almost stagnant ambience at sunset.

In the latter half of the 19th century, nearly all significant Russian artists belonged toPeredvizhniki, the Wanderers. The founders of the movement left the Imperial Academy of Arts and formed an artists’ cooperative free of academic restrictions. These wandering artists reformed Russian fine arts into a more realistic direction. Their works started to show social criticism and a strong political dimension. The Wanderers were not accepted to exhibit their art in galleries. Instead, they brought art to people and organised their own travelling exhibitions in the countryside in 1870−1923.

Our exhibition includes interpretations of the notion of landscape of the time by some of these wandering artists, such as Isaac Levitan, Ivan Shishkin, Vasily Polenov and Mikhail Clodt. Ivan Shishkin’s (1832−1898) favourite topic was the forest. Analytical studies of nature were typical of his art. His works seem very real with the peaceful atmosphere of the forest.

The exhibition has several works by Ilya Repin (1844−1930): paintings, watercolours and drawings. Repin depicted his surroundings in a deliciously exuberant and direct way without shunning social criticism. Scytheman (1876) is a good example of Repin’s portrayal of rural life. The man with the scythe looks confident and thoughtful, like he has faith in the future. He has interrupted his work for some reason, and the left knee of his pants is muddy.

Moreover, a privately owned high-quality collection of Ilya Repin’s pen and ink drawings will be exhibited for the first time since it was shown in Ateneum Art Museum twenty years ago.

LIVIO CESCHIN
Traces of the Past

8.10.2015 – 31.1.2016

The Sinebrychoff Art Museum exhibits the works of an Italian artist Livio Ceschin (born 1962) along with the works of old masters – they have offered the artist a source of inspiration. All 27 prints of Livio Ceschin belong to the Pieraccini Collection. The collection donated to the Ateneum Art Museum by Rolando and Siv Pieraccini presents mainly Italian graphic art, drawings and watercolour. The works of the old masters belong to the Sinebrychoff Art Museum Collections.

Livio Ceschin preserves in many ways the tradition of Italian and European printmaking in his work. In their technical sophistication and tonal richness, Ceschin’s prints represent the apex of contemporary Italian printmaking. He began making prints by studying the work of the great masters. His first two etchings from 1991 are both entitled Omaggio a Canaletto (Homage to Canaletto). Some other early works are his interpretations of prints by Rembrandt and Gianbattista Tiepolo.

One of the main characteristics of Ceschin’s work is the aim of showing time and its passage. The texts establish a link to history and the past. The passage of time is also associated with memory. It is the subtle, nuanced rendering of memory and old thoughts that give many of Ceschin’s works their quiet, melancholy atmosphere. Silence is an important element.

Interest in Ceschin has grown internationally, particularly in the 2000s. He has works in many museums and collections, including the Albertina in Vienna, the British Museum in London, and the Bibliothèque Nationale in Paris. In 2014 he had an important one-man show in the Rembrandthuis in Amsterdam as the first invited Italian printmaker in the museum.

TAIDESALONKI ‒ KONSTSALONGEN

100 YEARS

8.10.2015 – 10.1.2016

Taidesalonki Art Gallery in Helsinki is the oldest still functioning art gallery in Finland. Leonard Bäcksbacka (1892–1963) established the gallery in 1915. The 100th anniversary exhibition in the Sinebrychoff Art Museum will be showcasing the early days of Taidesalonki and the interests of Leonard Bäcksbacka. Apart from dealing in art, the gallery also specialized in selling antiques. The curator of the exhibition is PhD Christina Bäcksbacka. She has also edited a book about the early days of Taidesalonki to be published this autumn.

The exhibition in the Sinebrychoff Art Museum forms a part of a series of exhibitions, two of which will focus on representing more recent Finnish art. The exhibitions will be open at the same time in Helsinki Art Museum HAM and in the current location of Taidesalonki gallery on Bulevardi Street in Helsinki.

ROCOCO – NORDIC INTERPRETATIONS

Berndtson, Edelfelt, Watteau

28.5.–6.9.2015

The summer exhibition of the Sinebrychoff Art Museum offers perspectives into 19th century interpretations of Rococo, and views the phenomenon in the wider context of admiration of the 18th century in Finland, Sweden and Denmark. Albert Edelfelt, Gunnar Berndtson and Carl Larsson portrayed the period with sophistication and joyful lightness – giving an illusion of an age rediscovered.

The exhibition is curated by Laura Gutman, a French art historian. There is a strong narrative in the exhibition, helping viewers identify similar characteristics in paintings, costumes and furniture, whether they represent original Rococo, Neo-Rococo or their modern interpretations.

In the Nordic countries, the Rococo did not have such a strong image of frivolity as elsewhere, having more emphasis on the ideas of the Enlightenment philosophers. In Finland, historical links to Sweden were emphasised during a time when Russia tightened its grip of the Grand Duchy of Finland. Neo-Rococo was a political stand against the russification measures.

The original Rococo period is represented in the exhibition by Antoine Watteau, Alexander Roslin and Jean-Baptiste Pater, among others. The real star of the exhibition is ”Les Amateurs de peinture” (1860), the painting by the French master Ernest Meissonier (1815‒1891), on loan from the Musée d’Orsay. It is regarded as the model for Gunnar Berndtson’s ”Art Connoisseurs in the Louvre” (1879). Other important paintings are on loan also from the Louvre and the National Museum of Denmark.

The Rococo costumes and wigs attracted attention. The precious costumes were so desirable in the 18th century that Gustaf III introduced a national costume in Sweden in an effort to discourage squandering money on them. The heavily taxed, sumptuous costumes were rare in Sweden and Finland. Also on display in the exhibition are a Rococo costume from the 1760s from the collection of Livrustkammaren in Stockholm and Rococo-inspired wigs by the artist Helena Hietanen. The decorations of the tall wigs, such as eggs perched on their tops, are references to the exuberance of the Rococo style.

Articles by Laura Gutman and Maria Vainio-Kurtakko in the exhibition publication Neo-Rococo and the North [MR1] present perspectives into the art and ideas of the era in the Nordic countries.

The exhibition is put together in cooperation with the Serlachius museums.

GÖSTA & PAUL

Collections Face to Face

6.2.2015–3.5.2015

In the exhibition ”Gösta and Paul”, the old masters of Gösta Serlachius (1876-1942) are in dialogue with works of another passionate art collector Paul Sinebrychoff (1859-1917). Dialogue is held not only between the collections as a whole but also between individual pairs of works of art.

The exhibition approaches the works of art through stories. The stories arise, among other things, from histories of the acquisition of the works, collectors’ thoughts about them, and their significance within the collections. Letters and other interesting archive material relating to the works have been used as source material. We have selected pairs of works from six artists in the exhibition: Alessandro Allori, David Teniers the younger, Frans Hals (now Unknown artist), Anthonisz van Ravesteyn, Jan Verspronck and Cornelis de Vos.

Gösta Serlachius’ most intensive period of collecting of old masters took place in the first decades of the 20th century, particularly in the 1920s and the 1930s. Paul Sinebrychoff started collecting art already in the 1880s. Paul Sinebrychoff died in 1917, only two years before Gösta Serlachius’ art collection was on display publicly for the first time in an exhibition held in the Ateneum Art Museum in 1919. The same year, Serlachius acquired his first old master, the painting Philosopher by David Teniers the younger. We wonder if the passionate art collectors knew each other?

Both collectors were particularly interested in portraits. Different genres of Dutch portraits, from monumental court portraits to intimate family portraits, are well represented in the Serlachius collection. The collection has a wide geographical coverage; in addition to Dutch works, it includes art from England, Italy, France and Spain. Paul Sinebrychoff started off by collecting Swedish portraits from the 17th and 18th centuries, often those of notable historical figures, and also miniatures and pastels. Later, he also became interested in Dutch portraits.

It would not be a big surprise if Gösta and Paul had known each other; after all, they shared the same passion. Now, over a hundred years later, the Sinebrychoff Art Museum brings their collections together. They will help us peek through the curtains of history into the fascinating world of these collectors.

STATUESQUE

Neoclassical masterworks

4.9.2014–19.4.2015

Antiquity has always fascinated artists, and sculptors in particular. Towards the end of the 18th century, imitating “old” art became considered as the only way to achieve greatness in art. Greek sculptures were especially seen as sources of the antique ideal of beauty. In the 18th century, these idealised sculptures formed a set imagery, a canon, the knowledge of which was regarded as a part of people’s general knowledge at the time.

At the centre of the Statuesque exhibition are neoclassical sculptures of the following North European artists: Johan Tobias Sergel (1740–1818) from Sweden, Bertel Thorvaldsen (1770–1844) and Vilhelm Bissen (1836–1913) from Denmark, Emil Wolff (1802–1879) from Germany and Walter Runeberg (1838–1920) and Johannes Takanen (1849–1885) from Finland.

The exhibition also displays small sculptures that follow the antique canon, such as The Laocoön Group, Hera Ludovisi, Medici Venus and Dancing Faun. Affluent home owners in Finland acquired these small statues of antique beauty in the hope that they would be seen as signs of their good breeding and taste.

PEHR HILLESTRÖM

The 18th Century Observed

4.9.2014–11.1.2015

Pehr Hilleström portrayed the whole strata of life in the Gustavian period: the life and ceremonies of the court, idle young ladies in elegant drawing rooms, servant girls carrying on with their domestic tasks, theatre, peasant culture, foundries and mines. Pehr Hilleström’s work has never been exhibited this widely in Finland. The exhibition has been created in cooperation with the Nationalmuseum of Stockholm.

TRAVELLING WITH WOMEN

Pictures from the Collection of the Ateneum Art Museum

27.3.–10.8.2014

The exhibition tells the story of Finnish female artists travelling abroad through the works they created there. Some of the most beloved works of Helene Schjerfbeck, Maria Wiik, Elin Danielson-Gambogi, Ellen Thesleff, Sigrid Schauman and many others are displayed in this exhibition.

The exhibition has been created in collaboration with the Ateneum Art Museum.

ANIMALS IN THE SINEBRYCHOFF ART MUSEUM

12.9.2013–19.1.2014

Animals in the Sinebrychoff Art Museum is a family event. A total of 67 Dutch 17th-century prints featuring pigs, cows, sheep and horses have been chosen from the museum’s collections for display. Seafaring was the primary source of prosperity in the Dutch society at that date, but also agriculture and cattle farming contributed to the general well-being. Domestic animals were popular subjects with artists, together with peasant and bourgeois life, with its daily chores and village feasts. Certain more exotic animals, such as camels, bears and eagles also played a role.

TREES ARE POEMS

31.5.2013–12.1.2014

Trees are key elements in landscape art. This exhibition offers a universal perspective to these elements through the stories and atmospheres represented by individual trees and the places where they grow. In all cultures, the representation of trees opens up a colourful prism of multiple emotions arising from various beliefs and various aspects of life, from loneliness and group dynamics. Trees depicted at different moments can be seen as both an element of the landscape and a symbol of human existence.

The Sinebrychoff collections comprise numerous paintings and prints with tree motifs. Since trees feature extensively in the work of the exhibition’s four photo artists, this offers an excellent opportunity to benefit from the potential of combining older art forms with later ones.

SINCERE LIES

Hanna Haaslahti

26.9.–1.12.2013

In this exhibition, two different hangings enter into a dialogue: one from the museum’s collection of old art, the other featuring light, sound and technology. The historical imagery displayed here is not arranged according to era, style or artist – it is looking for a completely different system of arrangement. Established categories ‘leak’, and if you follow these leaks they can take you to the outskirts of Great Historical Themes. The outcasts from a museum collection, copies by unknown artists and reproductions, works in poor condition and those not falling into any particular classification become a starting point for new links with the future. Ghosts start appearing, when the present moment becomes dirty, broken, old fashioned and sick – like an old house that needs to be demolished. But let’s leave old houses alone and deconstruct the spell under which the structures of these works lie.

THE RENOWNED COMMODORE NICOLAS SINEBRYCHOFF CHALLENGE TROPHY

16.7.-31.7.2013

Sinebrychoff Art Museum opens in conjunction with the Tall Ships Races an exhibition where the public has the opportunity to become acquainted with the world’s second oldest sports prize that is still competed for, the Commodore Nicolas Sinebrychoff Challenge Trophy. Nicolas Sinebrychoff, an active sailor, member and Commodore of Nyländska Jaktklubben (NJK) donated the trophy that bears his name in connection with NJK’s 25th anniversary in 1886. Since 1888, the trophy has been given as a prize for the Nicolas Sinebrychoff Challenge Cup winner. The trophy was designed by Oskar Kleineh and is on display in the exhibition alongside a portrait of Nicolas Sinebrychoff painted by Albert Edelfelt, Oscar Kleineh ink drawings and watercolors and other maritime objects.

MICHELANGELO AND THE SISTINE CHAPEL

Drawings and Artworks from Casa Buonarroti, Florence

15.2.–19.5.2013

Michelangelo and the Sistine Chapel is the first exhibition in Finland of work by Italy’s great Renaissance master Michelangelo Buonarroti. It has been set up in collaboration with the Michelangelo Museum of Casa Buonarroti in Florence. The exhibition features 12 drawings, all sketches for the artist’s greatest masterpiece, the Sistine Chapel in the Vatican. These surviving sketches reflect the artist’s creative process, combining live models with the idealized anatomy of classical sculpture.

A ROMANTIC VIEW

The Rademakers Collection

13.9.2012-20.1.2013

The art collection of author, television producer and art lover Jef Rademakers (b. 1949) includes more than a hundred paintings from the Romantic Era. A total of 70 works from this collection are currently on display at the Sinebrychoff Art Museum. They open up romantic perspectives on Dutch and Flemish art of the mid-19th century. On display at the Sinebrychoff Art Museum are the central themes of the period: portraits, still lifes, genre paintings and landscapes depicting the countryside and sea as well as towns.

REMBRANDT

Master of the Copper Plate

2.2.–29.4.2012

The exhibition presents the graphic etchings by Dutch master Rembrandt van Rijn from the unique Rovinsky collection of the State Hermitage Museum. All 55 exhibited works belong to the graphics collection of a Russian Master of laws, Dmitry Rovinsky, and they have never before been seen abroad. The selection of the art pieces and research on the exhibition are based on the research of Doctor Roman Grigoryev. He has researched the materials of the Rembrandt graphics; the reason which made the works of Rembrandt so unique. In addition to the Rovinsky Collection, the exhibition also presents the graphic etchings by the pupils and peers of Rembrandt from the collections of Sinebrychoff Art Museum.

JORMA PURANEN

Shadows and Reflections

6.10.–31.12.2011

The exhibition displays 35 pictures from the series Shadows and Reflections by photographic artist Jorma Puranen (b. 1951, Pyhäjoki), taken at Sinebrychoff Art Museum in 1999–2011. The photographs displayed are accompanied by the 17th and the 18th century aristocratic and bourgeois portraits on which they were based. Puranen started photographing his series in 1991, when the reflections on the surfaces of the museum’s oil paintings captured his interest while he was working on another project.

The series Shadows and Reflections challenges the conventional idea of a good photograph. In Puranen’s pictures, the faces of the models fade into the background, while the interplay of light and shadow replaces familiarity with a feeling of enhanced sensitivity and alienation, with a dynamic tension between the fleeting moment and the centuries-old static state of the paintings. His works question the relationships between the portrait, the model and photography, and the way we tend to understand the image through their medium chosen to portray it.

GARDEN PICTURES

Paintings and Photographic Art by Taneli Eskola

9.6.–18.9.2011

The Garden Pictures – exhibition weaves together images of paradise in painting and photography. The garden motif has a long tradition in art history. The theme is explored through some of our best-loved paintings and classic prints. The gardens emerge as evocations of period atmosphere and real, tangible places and as expressions of Taneli Eskola’s own art.

NATURE AS A TEACHER

Landscape Painting in Düsseldorf

10.2.–15.5.2011

When talking about open-air painting in general, Italy and France are normally regarded as the forerunners. However, artists in Germany also became interested in drawing and painting studies directly from nature at the beginning of the nineteenth century. In Düssedorf, artists made wandering and painting trips not only in the surroundings of the city, but also farther south along the river Rhine as well as to the mountain ranges of Eifel and Harz. They drew and painted wide panoramic views from the mountain tops, and close-ups of castle ruins, as well as trees, brooks, plants, stones and topographic features of the Earth on these trips. In fact, German landscape painting shows how the development of natural sciences influenced the idea of landscape in the nineteenth century.

In Finland and Sweden, public gaze was focused on Düsseldorf as a result of the Nordic Art Exhibition which was arranged at the Royal Academy in Stockholm in 1850. The exhibition presented works of artists who had studied or who were working in Düsseldorf, and the landscapes of the Norwegian artists Hans Gude and August Cappelen attracted most attention. Inspired by the exhibition, Werner Holmberg was the first prominent Finnish artist who headed for Düsseldorf to study landscape painting there. Anders Ekman, Victoria Åberg, Berndt Lindholm, Hjalmar Munsterhjelm, Fanny Churberg and Victor Westerholm were among others who travelled to Düsseldorf following in his suit.